


Feather Light

by IllogicalHuman



Series: Miracles and Menageries [3]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, Female Dori, Female Nori (Tolkien), Female Ori, Mild Sexual Content, Non-Graphic Violence, Pre-Quest of Erebor, Ri Family Feels, Sisters Ri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:36:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllogicalHuman/pseuds/IllogicalHuman
Summary: Nori's past is what made her who she is, hiding has always been a part of her life. Hopefully she hasn't ruined everything.A bit more of the Nori/Bofur alcohol scene at the end between the ****. It's skipable if you don't want to read anything that even hints at sexy. Just drop down to where the second set of **** are
Relationships: Bofur & Nori (Tolkien), Bofur/Nori (Tolkien)
Series: Miracles and Menageries [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975696
Kudos: 7





	Feather Light

**Author's Note:**

> A bit more of the Nori/Bofur alcohol scene at the end between the ****. It's skipable if you don't want to read anything that even hints at sexy. Just drop down to where the second set of **** are.

Life on the road was all Nori had known for the longest time. Traveling with her mother, Dori and tiny baby Ori between the towns of men. Their mother was a master weaver, and had been one since before the fall of Erebor. But that didn’t seem to matter now. Their skills worth nothing to the greedy.

Nori remembers the first time a man approached them in less than friendly terms. That had been the last time Nori remembered wearing a skirt for many years. Mother had always said the men were dangerous, she had not known how true that was until that moment. She still remembers the way the knife had glittered in the candle light. If Dori had even a little less strength then they would have died.

They had barely had time to grieve for their mother, there had been no proper stone for her tomb, no slow dirge sung over days to carry her into Mahals halls. Only cold frozen dirt broken through by the strength of Dori. Their mother laid to rest outside a small village of men with a simple mound of field stones piled atop. They had been run out the next day by the knife wielding man.

Ori had not understood for a while. Asking almost every day where amad had gone and when was she coming home? After six months she finally stopped asking and began to forget. Nori could never forget. Wearing a skirt and being female was only a way to get killed.

She was surprised at first when her suggestion to hide was accepted by Dori. But Dori could see the benefit in hiding who they really were. They became the Sons of House Ri, young and inexperienced by dwarf standards, but they seemed older to the eyes of men. Dori and Nori already having full beards even at a young age, they easily passed themselves off as full grown.

……...

Dori found work as a weaver and a tinker. Her heart would always be in fabrics, but skills as a tinker were easier to sell. She plied her trade as the dwarrow of Erebor wandered the wilds of the world, never settling until Thorin called everyone to Ered Luin. Nori did what she could to help support her little family. Her quick fingers became good at embroidery and beading work. She had an excellent eye for detail and a memory that was almost picture perfect.

She couldn’t always find ways to bring in money though. She was really only needed when Dori would find a job making clothes for those able to afford the extravagance. Her quick fingers found it hard to be idle for long. She had always had restless feet and fidgety hands. Her mother had once given her a string of beads that she worried when she couldn't be up and doing something.

The thieving started slowly. She would find herself holding things before her mind even thought to take them. Anything loose or separated found its way into her then small hands. It took weeks before Dori noticed. The odd trinkets beginning to appear around the house. A new string of beads around Ori’s neck, a different towel by the sink. A shimmering set of hair clasps appearing on her pillow. The money jar that never seemed to empty.

Dori always hoped the behavior would stop when they settled in the mountain. It only seemed to worsen.

Nori was only 50 when they reached the Blue Mountains. Settling into a small home, Dori found work easily enough with her skills even at the young age of 80. With work being steady and food no longer questionable things should have gotten better.

But Nori had already learned bad habits. Quick, lithe hands slipping in and out of coin purses too fast to be noticed. Goods vanishing as if into thin air as an Auburn haired dwarf walked away with none the wiser. Then there was the drinking. Dori despaired at her sister ever being a proper dam.

……...

It was in a brawl that Nori and Bofur first met. They somehow ended up on the same side of a petty argument right before fists began flying. With her natural Ri family strength and Bofur's built from years swinging a mattock, they mopped the floor before both decided a different tavern would probably be better if they wanted to continue drinking. 

Somehow the two always knew where the other would be. Gravitating together like a moth to flame. Bofur made her laugh. His smile always large and full of good humor. And not once had he lied to her. She didn't always appreciate the honesty in the beginning, but came to treasure it.

He knew about her thieving and she knew he worked under the table in some sketchy shafts when honest work couldn’t be had in the crumbling and failing mines. They shared rounds of ale while Bofur unwound from the long hours as he watched her back while she cheated at the card and dice tables.

She didn’t notice the looks he sent her at first, always more focused on the games she played and not getting a knife in the back. The first time they got truly sloshed together he had complemented her beard and said she had the loveliest hands he had ever seen. She got him drunk on more than one occasion just to hear what nice things he would say next.

Nori found herself falling for the funny hatted Broadbeam. As the years rolled by and she took greater risks he never changed. Always right where she had left him if she ever had to skip town in a hurry, Guard Captain Dwalin hot on her tail. He would welcome her back with a slap to the back and a foaming cup as if they had spoken only the day before and not months ago.

Then there was the night she thought everything ruined. They had a mutual acquaintance known for brewing liquors in the back of his boarding house. Nori had wanted to celebrate a successful few months and invited Bofur up to a dinky little room she had been staying in. He had started saying sweet things to her again as they both indulged far too much of the clear brew that burned like fire. Both of them slumping against each other at the head of the smallish bed in the room.

******

Bofur had let the last empty bottle slide from his fingers to the floor before Nori felt a tug on her beard. Bofur's lips clumsily meeting hers in a kiss. Bofur began to pull away, muttering apologizes before her rational brain shut off and she pulled him back in for a longer kiss.

They kissed over and over for what felt like hours, breaking apart only when air was needed. Nori groaned when Bofur licked his way into her mouth, one hand holding her tight by the waist as the other stayed buried in her beard, skewing her braids.

Clothes began vanishing at an alarming rate. Nori couldn’t remember whose shirt hit the floor first or when she had lost her boots. Between kisses and whispers of worship from Bofur, Nori found herself bare and looking up into his brown eyes darkened with lust and need. 

He was as gentle with her as he was in everything he did. Worshiping her body as he brought her to peak after peak before chasing his own. She still couldn’t remember the pain of her first time, Bofur having brought her to delirious heights with his hands and mouth before breaking her maidenhead.

They had cuddled after, for a time. Bofur curled around her as she relaxed in the afterglow of their lovemaking. It wasn’t long, however, before the doubt began to set in. Bofur had always thought her male, and here they had just tumbled. No way could he mistake her for anything else now that their clothes had come off, after he had kissed every inch of her skin.

******

Panicked, Nori threw on her pants and shirt, shoving her feet into her boots before grabbing everything else and racing out the door. She only remembered the frantic beating of her heart as she somehow managed to navigate the streets home. 

Tumbling into a heap in Oris room Nori stumbled about as she cried at her wide eyed little sister. Dori came stomping in a few minutes as her fumbling grew too loud in a high temper and ready to tear into Nori for coming home in such a state before getting a good look at Nori’s tear streaked face.

Dori bundled Nori off to her room, listening as she cried and confessed. Dori forced a mug of water and a cup of calming tea down her sister before tucking her into bed.

Nori huddled under her blankets and refused to come out for days after, waiting for Bofur to show up and the hammer to hit the anval. But he never did. 

Still afraid, Nori took a job that would take her far for a while. When she returned several months later with several new scars and a full purse she tried to stay away from him. But Bofur was her lodestone. Her heart would always seek him out, always be drawn back no matter how far she tried to run.

He was exactly as she had left him. His grin brightened into something a little more genuine when their eyes met, making her traitorous heart speed up as it wrinkled his eyes. She could still feel the dimples hidden beneath his beard with her finger tips. He pulled back a chair in clear invitation and waved over the server for a mug before asking her about where she had been off to this time. Listening as she spoke about the spices and shimmering fabrics in the markets to the East.

Nori felt herself relaxing as he chattered about what he had been doing in the months she had been gone. Talking about his cousin and how his brother had begun courting. She felt herself settle back into the easy friendship they had always shared. And if she found herself late at night thinking about how his large hands had brushed almost feather light down her sides, no one had to know.


End file.
